How Would You Like to Die?

Whether we like it or not, we are all going to have to face death: if we are lucky enough, it will be when we have lived a long and satisfying life and we will die a good death.

Our culture does not like to talk about death or dying – we shy away from it, often until it’s too late. But that is not the best approach – neither for the individual coming to the end of their life, nor for their loved ones.

The focus is on end-of-life care in residential aged care and how we all have a role to play in this important part of life – the individual themselves, their family and friends, the personal care workers, nurses and other staff members.

Aged care providers care for around 350,000 Australians, and Vasey RSL Care has around 1,000 in our care community, with around 400 in residential care.

Annette Greenwood, GM Quality & Risk: “There is no doubt that these are difficult topics.”

“Our role is to ensure that our residents have the best possible level of care throughout their time with us, not to shy away from difficult discussions with individuals and family members, and to ensure that we support their dignity at all times,” says Annette Greenwood, General Manager – Quality and Risk.

“We are here to help residents live their life as fully and comfortably as possible, right to the very last moment,” she says.

Where the individual is likely to be within a week of death, consulting with the individual and their family, doctor and others to commence an end-of-life Care Pathway.

“There is no doubt that these are difficult topics,” Annette says. “But it is clear that broaching them at an early stage is beneficial for the individual and their loved ones.”

Advance Care Planning can make a difference

Fact:

82% of Australians think it is important to talk to their family about how they would like to be cared for at the end of their life

28% have done so

None of us knows what the future holds and it is never too early to plan ahead: talking now can help your family and friends in the future and can help ensure you get the care you want.

At Vasey RSL Care we support our residents and their families to have these conversations. It can be difficult to think about the future, so it helps if you start to think and plan in advance.

Lee-Anne Suryn, General Manager Aged Care Services: “It’s really important that everyone is ‘on the same page’ “.

“One of the most difficult issues that people have to consider is, who would make decisions about your medical treatment if you could not communicate?,” says Lee-Anne Suryn, General Manager – Aged Care Services. “Facing our own mortality is confronting and these questions can be hard to come to terms with.”

If residents and their families need help with having these difficult discussions or recording the decisions made, that’s something our staff can help with.

Preferred Care Choice Conferences can make a difference

Anyone accessing aged care services – home care or residential care – has the right to talk about their end-of-life with loved ones, aged care staff and clinical staff.

We encourage this and we offer every person an opportunity to identify clear goals of care. This opportunity – which we call a Preferred Care Choices Conference – also provides a safe environment where issues and questions about end-of-life care can be raised, and preferred strategies agreed upon.

“It’s really important that everyone is ‘on the same page’ – making sure that the individual themself, their loved ones, staff and clinicians have a clear understanding of the preferences they have expressed is the only way we can be sure we understand their requests and achieve the best outcome for them,” says Lee-Anne.

Our End-of-life Care Pathway can make a difference

When it is clear that a person is approaching death and may only have a week or so to live, our care changes to focus on providing physical, emotional and spiritual comfort to the individual, and providing support and care for their loved ones.

Our staff are supported to recognise and understand that end-of-life care is urgent care. We provide written information for family members so that they understand the end-of-life care pathway and the dying process.

Staff also assist people to understand what is happening and provide family and friends with opportunities to be involved in care, if they wish.

Our staff matter, they make the difference

Our nurses and carers feel a great sense of respect for the people in our care and it shows in their empathy and the quality of their work.

“Vasey RSL Care also recognises how tough it can be for staff members who build close and loving relationships with residents and their family members,” says Annette. “Our staff choose to work in aged care often because of the opportunity to build relationships with residents, family members and team members. They feel grief too, and it is important for us to acknowledge this and ensure that they receive the support they need.”

Dying remains one of the most difficult things to talk about, but many difficult things, once you do them, give you a sense of relief. Once we have lived a good life, we should aim to die a good death.